The Company Director's Desktop Guide

David Martin

Publisher: Thorogood

Price: £18.99

ISBN: 9781854186041

Robin Chew finds very little fat in this complete yet concise company director’s guide

David Martin’s Desktop Guide is a comprehensive handbook, detailing how company and other legislation affects company directors. This fourth edition incorporates the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 as if they were already fully implemented. It is a tribute to Martin’s concise style as well as indicative of the everincreasing amount of legislation, that there is very little fat in its nearly 500 pages. For example, case studies are kept to a couple of paragraphs, setting out the principle in question and omitting most of the details.

Martin sets out the director’s duties and offers practical suggestions on how to comply. The mechanism of the Board is fully explained and there is even a suggested seating plan designed to neutralise your opponents if you are anticipating a particularly sticky board meeting. A theme that runs throughout the book is that of personal liability and how a director needs to guard himself in an increasingly litigious society. Awareness of new developments in employment legislation, and satisfying corporate governance guidelines, is rightfully treated with importance.

I have come across many books that have purported to cover similar ground, but most fail by being either too simplistic to be of practical value, or too academic and wordy to sustain the attention of the reader. The Desktop Guide succeeds where its rivals fail, by focusing on the details that matter to directors. It is an excellent guide to what you are letting yourself in for, if you accept that tap on the shoulder.

Robin Chew is an AAT student member